#71.

there are two aspects to Thor's personality that i've been thinking about ,  and they're consistent no matter where he is ,  but it's particularly prevalent and noticeable when he's on Miðgarðr .   Thor switches ,  almost seamlessly ,  between being a protector ,  and an onlooker ,  or overseer .  

the protector  :   Thor ,  really giving meaning to the title of  ‘  Ásgarðr and Miðgarðr's protector  ’   and doing everything in his power to maintain peace across the nine ,  and prevent Earth from getting into trouble  (  something Earth has a penchant for doing often   )

the onlooker  :   Thor watching humans fight through internal battles ,  knowing he cannot get involved and try and change their nature ,  because there are many events   (   much like Ragnarøkr  )  that have to play out as they do .

these two sides were not something he was taught to balance ,  but rather ,  the knowing when to intervene and when to stand back is something that is intuitive ,  in all the Æsir .    that's not to say he's not prone to stepping forward and getting involved when he should leave things be ,  of course he makes mistakes ,  but going against his better judgement to make that call soon comes back to reprimand him in other ways .

the MCU provides a perfect example of this :  there's his involvement with the Avengers when Loki first arrived on Earth  versus his lack of involvement when the Avengers turned against each other and broke apart in Civil War .   it wasn't his fight ,  it wasn't something he could influence ,  nor something in which he had any right to intervene   ---   but instead human nature he was likely all - too - aware of .

and the fact of the matter is that it derives from his very nature of being a demigod   ---------------   this curiosity to see what will happen ,  or to understand and witness human nature and all its complexities ,  versus a drive to protect ,  a good - natured desire to help everyone .   Loki stands back to watch the chaos they have likely inflicted ,  Thor stands back to better understand .

there's also the obvious reason for his lack of presence in everything bad that's ever happened on Earth ,  and that is that he can't physically be in several places at once   !   but there's something that ties him heavily to fate and the written word of their lives ,  that tells him :    this is something you can influence .    and that is something that needs to run its course .